(CNN) – When he was 19, he won $5,000 in the California lottery, and today Rep. Kevin McCarthy's luck held out.

Republicans voted him in as their new majority leader Thursday, even though he is the establishment candidate, and the slot opened up when a tea party candidate ousted his good friend and fellow establishment figure Eric Cantor in a historic Virginia primary upset.FULL POST

The California Republican defeated Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador for the No. 2 position, which is responsible for the day-to-day running of the chamber and deciding which bills come to the floor for a vote.

(CNN) – President Barack Obama said on Thursday he is prepared to send up to 300 military advisers to Iraq to "assess how we can best train, advise and support Iraqi security forces."

Obama added that "American forces will not be returning to combat" but will help Iraqis "take the fight to terrorists who threaten the Iraqi people, the region and American interests as well."

The President is under pressure to help the embattled Iraqi government stave off a lightning advance toward Baghdad by Sunni fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

But Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the ranking Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, says there are "a number of security interests that America has in the whole region." But he identified one specific, perhaps controversial, reason for U.S. troops in Iraq: oil.FULL POST

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